Worcester Art Museum laying off 6

WORCESTER 
A restructuring at the Worcester Art Museum will result in six employee layoffs, the museum said.

The senior-level positions of director of audience engagement and deputy director were created, and the director of development position, which had been vacant, was filled, according to the museum. Tracy Caforio was appointed deputy director, and Jere Shea was appointed director of development. The audience engagement position has not yet been filled.

The six laid-off employees made up about 2.6 percent of the museum's 231 total employees, according to Allison Berkeley, a spokeswoman for the museum.

Additionally, the museum sought and won a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to hire a curator of American art. The new curator will be responsible for the museum's collection of American paintings from the 17th century through the late 20th century, as well as decorative arts, including furniture, sculpture and significant holdings in Paul Revere silver and portrait miniatures. Also, thanks to a grant from the Luce Foundation, the museum will be able to hire a staff member to support the new curator, according to the museum.

According to the museum, the new director of audience engagement will be charged with attracting new museum audiences through innovative programming and marketing strategies.